We assessed the immediate effect of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) on the biochemical, immunological and hematological profiles in patients with hypogammaglobulinemia. Over a period of three months, patients with antibody deficiencies, who had been established on stable IVIG treatment as replacement therapy in our hospital, were enrolled in the study. Participants ...

Severe allograft dysfunction after heart transplant (HT), without ischemia or evidence of cellular rejection upon endomyocardial biopsy (EMB), is a rare but potentially fatal condition that suggests humoral rejection (HR). Its incidence, and the methods of choice for its diagnosis and management, remain uncertain. We retrospectively studied 445 HT patients ...

Substantial evidences suggested that propylthiouracil (PTU) could induced anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) antibodies in sera from patients with hyperthyroidism, however, only a subgroup of the PTU-induced anti-MPO antibody positive patients developed clinical evident vasculitis. The aim of this study is to compare the titres and affinities of PTU induced anti-MPO antibodies in ...

OBJECTIVE: To characterize an IgA deficient and common variable immunodeficiency (CVI) group of patients in terms of the presence of rheumatologic manifestations. BACKGROUND: Although the molecular basis of some of the primary immunodeficiencies has been elucidated, it has not been possible to explain why in most cases these conditions are ...

BACKGROUND: Sulfur mustard (SM) is an alkylating chemical warfare agent that was widely used during World War I and by Iraqi forces against Iranian soldiers. We aimed to study late toxic effects of SM on the blood and the immune system of severely intoxicated Iranian veterans. METHODS: All SM-poisoned veterans ...

Localized scleroderma is a connective tissue disorder that is sometimes accompanied by various immunological abnormalities. In this study, we analysed serum levels of rheumatoid factor (RF) isotypes in patients with localized scleroderma and in normal controls to determine if any of these isotypes reflect the severity of the disease. IgM ...

Treatment of auto-immune cytopenia refractory to front line therapy with intravenous immunoglobulins and steroids is a matter of concern. We assessed the efficacy and safety of mycophenolate mofetil in a prospective open preliminary study. Adult patients with steroid refractory auto-immune cytopenias were included. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was added to treatment ...

OBJECTIVES: Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) are found in 50-60% of patients with Crohn's disease. Increased as well as normal levels have been reported in Behçet's syndrome (BS). We reassessed the level of IgG and IgA ASCA antibodies in BS and in a group of diseased and healthy controls. METHODS: Eighty-five ...

BACKGROUND: Patients with melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR) experience different visual symptoms caused by the production of antitumoral antibodies that cross-react with retinal epitopes. Immunofluorescence assays of serum from patients with MAR on sectioned monkey or human retina characteristically reveal antibody activity located within the inner nuclear layer, with a focus of ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether differences in T helper (Th) 1 and Th2 cell activity in salivary glands ("local") or ("peripheral") blood can discriminate between Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and non-Sjögren's sicca syndrome (nSS-sicca). Additionally, to study relationships of local and peripheral Th cell activities with each other and with disease activity ...

In order to further the present knowledge of the emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), 486 different specimens from 54 patients with a clinical diagnosis of SARS were investigated for the presence of viral RNA, and 314 plasma specimens of 73 patients were examined for IgM and IgG antibodies ...

Recent advances in immunologic techniques have lead to increased recognition of primary immunodeficiencies. A review of patients with suspected immunodeficiencies in a Taiwan tertiary hospital from January 1985 to October 2004 and molecular/genetic analyses done on some patients were investigated. Of the 403 patients selected based on the International Classification ...

We conducted the current study to analyze the prevalence and clinical significance of circulating monoclonal immunoglobulins in patients with Sjögren syndrome (SS), focusing on the association with extraglandular features, immunologic markers, hematologic neoplasia, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We performed serum immunoelectrophoresis in 200 patients with primary SS and ...

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a vasculitis of unknown aetiology, possibly involving immune complexes. The complement system is essential for the clearance of immune complexes. Our aim was to explore the hypothesis that patients with HSP have abnormal complements, contributing to the development of the disease. The study included 56 patients ...

We conducted an open label dose-escalation phase I trial of chimeric anti-GD3 mAb KM871 in patients with metastatic melanoma. Patients were entered into one of five dose levels (1, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg/m2) and received three infusions of KM871 at 2-wk intervals. A metastatic melanoma site was biopsied ...

There is considerable evidence to suggest a role for complement in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, but the data related to the classical pathway complement activity in patients with schizophrenia are conflicting. In the present study, the total hemolytic activity of the complement and the activities of individual complement components, C1, ...

Autoimmune hepatitis type 1 (AIH-1) is characterized by the detection of smooth muscle autoantibodies, antinuclear antibodies and antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies, and AIH-2 is characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against LKM, which contain drug-metabolizing enzymes. In this study, we measured the levels of drug-metabolizing enzymes in AIH-1 patients (ANA-positive). We ...

Linear IgA dermatosis is a rare autoimmune bullous skin disease with subepidermal blister formation and linear IgA deposits along the basement membrane zone. We describe two female patients showing erythematous annular plaques with scaling at the margin, strictly localized to the palms in one patient, and also found on the ...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the epidemiologic, clinical, and immunologic characteristics of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), primary or secondary, in autoimmune patients from Northern Greece. Sixty-seven patients with APS were included (9 men, 13.4%, and 58 women, 86.6%). Fifty-two (77.6%) patients had secondary APS and 15 had ...

OBJECTIVE: An inappropriate mucosal immune response to the commensal bacterial flora may play a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this study we determined the percentage of immunoglobulin-coated bacteria in the stools of patients and controls. METHODS: Faecal samples were obtained from 18 patients with IBD ...

OBJECTIVE: Coeliac disease (CD) is one of the most important causes of chronic diarrhoea. The prevalence of CD in patients with chronic diarrhoea in Iran remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of CD among 100 Iranian patients with chronic non-bloody diarrhoea. METHODS: One hundred ...

Although human parvovirus B19 (PVB19) is mainly known to be the causative agent of fifth disease, it is also important in the etiopathogenesis of various hematologic disorders. Recently, its role in the occurrence of chronic anemia and pancytopenia in immunocompromised patients has been revealed. In this study, the authors searched ...

The use of small portable pumps for subcutaneous infusion of IgG in patients with primary immunodeficiencies was introduced more than 20 years ago. In the US, i.v.i.g. became more popular, but in other countries, many patients use the subcutaneous route. Pharmacokinetics of IgG differ when smaller doses are given more ...

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a major problem in patients with chronic renal failure leading to increased mortality. Several infectious agents have been implicated to be associated with atherosclerosis. We were interested to evaluate whether there is a correlation between a past infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn), Helicobacter pylori (Hp) or ...

BACKGROUND: A number of reports indicate that circulating immune complexes (CIC) and activation of the complement system contribute to the pathogenesis of Type I allergy. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of CIC in 113 patients with rhinitis in Lebanon and determine complement components C3 and ...

Buruli ulcer disease (BUD) is an emerging disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. In the present study we have characterized the serological reactivities of sera from volunteer case patients with laboratory-confirmed BUD and controls living in three different regions of Ghana where the disease is endemic to determine if serology may ...

BACKGROUND: The detection, measurement and characterization of circulating immune complexes (CICs) in tumor patients has shown both good and poor correlation with progression of the disease. The origin of the antigens making up the immune complexes in the sera of the cancer patients examined is unknown. They are perhaps antigens ...

The mainstay of treatment of pemphigus vulgaris is systemic corticosteroids. Intravenous immunoglobulins have been reported as an adjuvant corticosteroid-sparing regimen in recalcitrant pemphigus vulgaris. The purpose of the study was to monitor disease activity, serum levels of autoantibodies and doses of oral corticosteroids in 4 patients with recalcitrant pemphigus vulgaris ...

Five commercial Borrelia serology kits available in Sweden were evaluated and compared for their diagnostic performance in sera from clinically well-characterized patient groups. With the clinically defined groups as the gold standard, i.e. without knowledge of antibody status in serum and cerebrospinal fluid, the diagnostic performance of the kits was ...

Chronic antigenic stimulation by the abnormal lipid storage has been postulated to be the mechanism underlying anecdotal reports of monoclonal and polyclonal gammopathies as well as an increased incidence of multiple myeloma in patients with Gaucher disease of all ages. With the advent of specific enzyme therapy, it has been ...

Serum from seven patients with ordinary scabies and six with crusted scabies were screened by immunoblotting for IgE- and IgG-specific proteins in an extract of the mite, Sarcoptes scabiei variety canis. Sera from atopic individuals without sensitivity to house dust mites were used as controls. Serum from all of the ...

Based on data providing a correlation between immunoglobulin or complement components levels and malignancies and specific disease parameters, we examined the possible correlation between the immunoglobulins, complement component levels and the stage of disease and the survival of patients. Sera from 55 patients with lung cancer and 22 healthy donor ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in the humoral and cellular immunity of patients with chronic tonsillitis before and 1 month after tonsillectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 37 patients scheduled for tonsillectomy were enrolled in this study. The levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD19+, CD25+ and ...

The length of the CTG repeat in the 3' untranslated region of the DMPK gene is considered to be associated with clinical severity in type 1 Dystrofia Myotonica (DM1) and has also been suggested to correlate with the degree of deficiency of IgG noted in these patients. Total serum level ...

Management of Lyme disease would benefit from a test to assess therapy outcome. Such a test could be employed to ascertain if treatment of early Lyme disease was successful and would be helpful to clinicians assessing patients with lingering posttreatment symptoms. We reported recently that levels of the antibody to ...

Annexin V has an important role in the regulation of apoptosis and antibodies directed against it have been shown to lead to apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells. To evaluate the role of anti-annexin V antibodies (AA5A) in Takayasu's arteritis (TA), we investigated these antibodies in the sera of 66 TA ...

Anti-beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2GPI) antibodies are frequently found in patients with lupus anticoagulant (LA). To investigate the prevalence of antibeta2GPI antibodies and their clinical impact in patients with a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE) without LA/anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA), we studied 503 patients [128 (36.2%) men, median age 41 years (interquartile range, ...

OBJECTIVE: Macroprolactinemia, which can be detected by a polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation test, is a clinically and biologically heterogeneous condition. In this study, we analyzed whether the clinical presentation, the hormonal findings and the in vitro lactogenic activity differed between macroprolactinemic patients with and without circulating prolactin (PRL)-IgG complexes. DESIGN: ...

We evaluated industrially prepared Western blot strips designed to avoid the cross-reactions observed with indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays used for the serodiagnosis of trichinellosis. The antigen preparations were crude extracts of Trichinella spiralis. The Western blot profile characteristic of trichinellosis was characterized by comparing 60 sera from patients ...

The authors retrospectively review their experience with low immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels in a pediatric ICU population over a 12-month period. The total IgG level was below the normal for age in 14 of the 20 patients. The 14 patients with a low IgG level were younger and weighed less ...

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence to suggest that detection of anti-gliadin antibody (AGA) and anti-endomysial antibody (EmA) can serve as sensitive markers of the degree of histological abnormalities in patients with coeliac disease. AIM: To evaluate the association between the presence of AGA and EmA and villous atrophy in intestinal ...

In this short-term open label clinical pilot study, conducted at one center, the immune complex dextran sulphate adsorber (Selesorb) was used to treat four female patients aged 59-69 with HCV-related cryoglobulinaemia, vasculitis and/or neuropathy. The primary trial objective was to assess the clinical efficacy of the immunoadsorber. The secondary objective ...

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of IgA antiphospholipid antibodies, particularly anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and anti-beta(2)-glycoprotein I (abeta(2)GPI), in a cohort of patients with pregnancy morbidity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Serum samples from four groups of patients were studied by an in house enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Group I: 28 patients ...

OBJECTIVE: The term "IgA Deficiency (IgAD)" should be reserved for the individuals who do not have detectable disorders known to be associated with low IgA levels. IgG subclass deficiency or a lack of the IgG2 subclass that is specific against polysaccharide antigens, can be seen in many cases. METHODS: Forty-five ...